December 2012

Special posts were created to cover recent writings by me that have appeared in the District Bulletin and Canberra Bird Notes. 

In December 2012 116 species were reported to me.  I am beginning to run out of superlatives!  This is 10 more than the total in November 2012, and 17 (!!) more than recorded in December 2011.  

Migration appears to have settled down, as would be expected by December.  Sacred Kingfishers have returned and a small flock of White-throated Needletails made an appearance over the Hoskinstown Plain early in the month.  The latter species are more commonly seen travelling in front of storm systems and since it looks as though storms may be our main form of rain this Summer keep an eye out (and up) when a system moves in.

Other exciting sightings have resulted in adding yet another species to the overall list (now 177 species) for the area.  This was an Australian Spotted Crake seen at the Molonglo Crossing on Briars-Sharrow Rd.  The  Intermediate Egret first reported last month was again observed on a swamp in the Plain.  Some less common birds have returned after being absent for a few months including Black Falcon, Royal Spoonbill and Nankeen Night-heron.  

On the missing in action side of the ledger, the Banded Lapwings have moved on from the Hoskinstown Plain as the crop in which they were located have grown.   Superb Parrots only made a brief visit this year, probably due to   the Acacias on which they feed being trashed by Sulphur-crested Cockatoos.

25 species have been recorded breeding (widely defined) as indicated in red in the list below.  

Thank you to observers and landholders in Widgiewa Rd; Hoskinstown, Plains Rd; the Molonglo Valley and Radcliffe.  As always observations are welcomed, especially of breeding events.

List of species observed

1  Waterbirds:  Black Swan;  Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck; Australian Shoveler; Grey Teal; Pacific Black Duck; Hardhead; Australasian Grebe; Hoary-headed Grebe;  Little Black Cormorant; Little Pied Cormorant; Great Cormorant; White‑necked Heron; Intermediate Egret; Great Egret: White‑faced Heron; Nankeen Night Heron; Australian White Ibis; Straw-necked Ibis; Royal Spoonbill; Australian Spotted Crake;  Dusky Moorhen;  Eurasian Coot; Black-winged Stilt;Masked Lapwing;  Latham’s Snipe.

2 Birds of Prey:  Black-shouldered Kite; Brown Goshawk; Spotted Harrier; Wedge-tailed Eagle; Little Eagle; Nankeen Kestrel; Brown Falcon; Black Falcon, Peregrine Falcon.

3 Parrots and Relatives:  Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo; Gang‑gang Cockatoo; Galah;  Sulphur‑crested Cockatoo; Australian King‑parrot; Crimson Rosella; Eastern Rosella; Red-rumped parrot

4 Kingfishers and other non-songbirds: Stubble Quail; Brown quail; Rock Dove;  Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon;  Tawny Frogmouth; Australian Owlet-nightjar; White-throated Needletail;  Horsfield's Bronze‑Cuckoo; Shining Bronze‑cuckoo; Pallid Cuckoo; Fan‑tailed Cuckoo; Brush Cuckoo; Southern Boobook; Laughing Kookaburra; Sacred Kingfisher; Dollarbird; 

5 Honeyeaters: Eastern Spinebill; Yellow-faced Honeyeater; White-eared Honeyeater;  Noisy Miner; Red Wattlebird;  Brown‑headed Honeyeater; Noisy Friarbird

6 Flycatchers and similar species: Rufous Whistler; Grey Shrike-thrush; Grey Fantail; WillieWagtail; Leaden Flycatcher;  Magpie-lark; Scarlet Robin; Flame Robin; Eastern Yellow Robin; Welcome Swallow; Fairy Martin; Tree Martin

7 Thornbills, Finches and similar species:  Superb Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren; Weebill; White-throated Gerygone; Striated Thornbill; Yellow‑rumped Thornbill; Buff‑rumped Thornbill; Brown Thornbill; Southern Whiteface; Spotted Pardalote; Striated Pardalote; Silvereye; Double‑barred Finch; Red‑browed Finch; Diamond Firetail; House Sparrow; European Goldfinch

8 Other, smaller birds:  White-throated Treecreeper; Varied Sitella; Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike; White‑-winged Triller; Olive‑backed Oriole;  Dusky Woodswallow; Skylark; Rufous Songlark; Brown Songlark; Common Blackbird; Common Starling; Mistletoebird; Australasian  Pipit;

9  Other, larger birds: Satin Bowerbird; Grey Butcherbird; Australian Magpie; Pied Currawong; Grey Currawong; Australian Raven; Little Raven; White-winged Chough

Noisy Friarbird nesting

In January this year I posted on my main blog about my discovery of a Noisy Friarbird nest.  I didn't find that nest until the chicks were well advanced.  When a Noisy Friarbird turned up behaving strangely on our deck ...

... in late November I wondered if it was gathering nesting material.  HANZAB notes that the nest is "... often bound with spider web ..." which is clearly visible in the first image.  As HANZAB notes a high level of site fidelity (although IMHO within 2-300 metres shows a fairly flexible interpretation of 'site') I started looking for a nest in the vicinity of last years.  I didn't find it immediately although I noticed the birds spending a fair amount of time in a tree about 10m away.  (That is what I mean by site fidelity!)

Eventually - after possibly 2 hours of searching over about 3 weeks I was able to get into the correct position to spot the nest (again guided by the movement of the adult birds.  I estimate it to be about 5m off the ground in a well-foliaged Eucalyptus meliodora (Yellow Box).  (As an aside this tree has also been used this and earlier years as the site of a Pied Currawong nest and for 3 earlier years as the site of a Tawny Frogmouth nest.)  In the next image the nest site is circled in red.

Here is a close up, The visible part of the nest is, like last year, made of woven strip of eucalypt bark.

I have also posted about the nesting of larger honeyeaters in the context of Eastern Koel parasitism. While there are few Koels around here, it will be interesting to record the timing of this event for comparison with previous events in other sites, which are summarised in that post.

On 29 December I heard the sound of chicks for the first time.

That was just about the last time also!  Because of the leaves fringing the nest from above it wasn't possible to see what was going on in the nest unlike last year.  About 5 January Frances saw a small fluffy Friarbird in the garden so I thought they had fledged by then.  However on 10 January an adult flew to the nest and esconsed itself, so I think there are still young there.

Article for the District Bulletin

The following article about Waterbirds returning to the area was published in The District Bulletin in December 2012.
The Waterbirds return

Many families of birds are closely linked to the presence of water.  Best known of these are the Swans Ducks and Geese; Herons; and the Waders (Plovers Sandpipers etc).  With water returning to Lake George, good flows in the Molonglo and Queanbeyan Rivers and many farm dams remaining full, the numbers and diversity of waterbirds in the District is currently very high. 

In the urban parts of the District a good place to start with waterbirds is the Queanbeyan River near the weir.  Many of the waterbirds can be found there and will often stay close enough to be viewed for identification purposes. 

Those with small dams on their properties will be very familiar with Pacific Black Ducks, Australian Wood Ducks and Australasian Grebes.  White-faced Herons and Little Pied Cormorants are also common visitors.

As well as these common species some damp sites have attracted unusual birds. 

Many farm dams have hosted the large White-necked Heron. 

Apart from the very obvious long white neck (see image) they are twice the size of the familiar White‑faced Heron.  Often seen as single birds, up to 15 White-faced Herons have been seen on the Hoskinstown Plain.  

The paddocks on the South side of Bungendore village often support Australian Shelduck in numbers ranging from 2 up to 30. 

They are usually found in pairs as shown in the image, with the female having a white ring around the base of the bill.   The Shelduck also feed on Lucerne crops and birds can be seen in these crops on the Hoskinstown Plain.

Banded Lapwings are closely related to the common Masked Lapwing (sometimes called the Spur‑winged Plover). 

As shown in the image the Banded Lapwings differ in not having a yellow mask but showing a black band across the breast.  They have been very uncommon in this area (other than private property around Lake Bathurst) for about 50 years.  A few were reported near Lake George last Summer but have recently been reported in good numbers from South of Bungendore and on the Hoskinstown Plain.  It seems the wetter seasons have been good for their breeding and they are now spreading out to sample the goodies a little further afield.

The least common (in this area) waterbird seen recently has been a party of Plumed Whistling-Ducks seen in the paddocks off Trucking Yard Lane. 

The upwards pointing plumes beside the wings are an easy field mark when standing but less so when in flight.  

2 Articles published in Canberra Bird Notes

The following two short articles relating to birds in (inter alia) the Carwoola area were published in Canberra Bird Notes December 2012.

An “outbreak” of Banded Lapwings on (and near) the Hoskinstown Plain

The species account for Banded Lapwing Vanellus tricolor in “Birds of the ACT: Two Centuries of change” (Wilson 1999) concludes “There have been no recent sightings.  The species is presumed to be extinct in the ACT.”  This is, as would be expected, consistent with the views expressed in the ACT Bird Atlas (Taylor and COG 1992) reporting a few records in the ACT scattered through the 1980s.  More recently Boekl has reported (Boekl 2010) on the reappearance of the species in Throsby, and in 2012 a pair were observed on the Canberra airport.

The locations referred to in this note are shown in this snip from Google Earth.  From Lake Bathurst to Plains Rd is approximately 43km in a straight line while Lake Bathurst- Throsby is 50km.

In the wider COG Area Of Interest (AOI), sightings have been made in the Lake Bathurst/Morass area of NSW most years since 1981, mainly through the Waterbird Surveys.  Recent sightings have included 158 birds in January 2012 (the highest number ever recorded in the Water Bird Surveys) and 84 birds in September 2012.   As Lake George has rehydrated since 2010 there have been a few reports from that area including 37 birds in October 2010 (M Lenz pers comm). 

Against that background I was surprised to find that the Atlas of Living Australia contained a record for Banded Lapwing from the Hoskinstown Plain.  Other than noting that the coordinates for the record gave a position close to the Molonglo River I have not been able to gain further information about the circumstances of the observation.   This led me to wonder if this was a case of mistaken identity of Masked Lapwing Vanellus miles, commonly seen in the area.

Following the appearance of the birds at Canberra airport mentioned above I advised several residents of the Carwoola area that there was a prospect of the Banded Lapwing being observed in suitable habitat in the area.  In response to that, on 7 October 2012 a local landowner (not a member of COG) advised that he had seen 5 Banded Lapwings in a recently sown paddock on the Hoskinstown Plain.  When I visited the area the next day 25 Banded Lapwings were observed in a paddock on which forage brassica was germinating. 

The landowner monitored the birds closely and on occasions when I visited the area COG data sheets were lodged.  These summarise the presence of the species in the location, with the highest number of birds recorded (on 7 November 2012) standing at the time of writing at 46.  It is possible that this is an undercount since by that time the crop had grown somewhat and the Lapwings disappeared from view when they sat or walked through a particularly tall section of crop.

I was advised by email (D Wilson pers comm) that on 19 October 2012 at least 6 Banded Lapwings had been seen beside the Kings Highway in a ploughed paddock.  This is approximately 15km from the site on Hoskinstown Plain.  Wilson also advised that Banded Lapwings were common in that area 50 years ago when passing through with his father while returning from banding expeditions on Lake Rd Bungendore.   

On 24 October I saw 7 Banded Lapwings in that location.  In response to this sighting David McDonald visited the site a little later in that day and recorded  12 Banded Lapwings (D McDonald pers comm).  On my way home from blitzing on 27 October I also recorded at least 12 Banded Lapwings in the same paddock.  On 28 October  passing by at 6am – in rather cool weather - I could only identify 6 birds of this species, clustered around the edge of the paddock as though they had sheltered in the rank grass overnight.  On 5 November I passed the site at 1330 and observed 4 Banded Lapwings in two pairs, one at each end of the paddock.  Some of the crop was growing  well, making it difficult to spot the birds.

In summary it would appear that the Banded Lapwing is regaining its former territory.  Whether this reflects changes in the weather; changes in land management in the area; or simply chance is a topic for speculation.  However the species is known to be nomadic and the recent resurgence in the AOI may be a reflection of seasons which suit the requirements of the species.

References

Boekl C, 2010. “Status of the Banded Lapwing Vanellus tricolor in the

Australian Capital Territory”, Canberra Bird Notes v35 (3) pp192-196

Taylor M and COG, 1992, “Birds of the Australian Capital Territory: An Atlas”

Wilson S, 1999, “Birds of the ACT Two Centuries of Change”

Chestnut-rumped Heathwren (Calamanthus pyrrhopygia) breeding in Yanuununbeyan State Conservation area.

On 3 November 20012 a COG Field Trip visited Yanununbeyan State Conservation Area.  The first walk undertaken was towards Corner Hill.  We entered some eucalypt  woodland (mainly Eucalyptus rossii and E. macrorhyncha with an understorey dominated by Joycea  pallida.)

At one point I stepped off the track to inspect an orchid (Diuris sulphurea) and flushed a small darkish brown bird with a bright chestnut rump.  It flew quite swiftly about 20m and dived to the ground.  The 9 members of the group spent some time getting occasional glimpses of the bird but none clear enough to identify it.

In view of the colour of the rump my first thought was Chestnut‑rumped Heathwren (Calamanthus pyrrhophagia) which was supported by the bird’s tendency to cock its tail vertically.  However the image of the species shown in a field guide[1] and a smartphone application showed a white breast with dark streaking.  The bird seen had a brown breast.  As alternatives we considered (1) White-browed Scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis) and (2) Pilotbird (Pycnoptilus floccosus). However, based on plumage features, size or habitat those species did not match the bird under observation.

Attempts were made to photograph the bird, but the best result was of the log on which it had been perching!  We moved on, returning to the area after about 10 minutes. 

On this occasion a member of the group saw the bird in question fly into a jumble of vegetation under a fallen log and noticed ‘baby bird noises’ coming from the site.  We spread out a little so as not to stress a breeding bird and the bird soon re-appeared.   On this occasion I got a reasonable look for about 2 seconds noting: the bright chestnut colouring extending under the rump; a faint ‘off-white’ eyebrow;  some white on the tail; and faint, but clear, darker streaking on the brown breast.

On returning home and consulting HANZAB v6 it was clear that the bird was very similar to the illustration of a female Chestnut-rumped Heathwren.  The breast colour was possibly a little browner – more like the illustrated juvenile – perhaps indicating a young bird.  The location of the nest (inferred from the calls when the bird entered, and the repeated visits to, the location) was typical of the sites described in HANZAB.

While the adult bird was not heard to sing, which was unlike previous experience with this species at Pierces Creek, the description of Voice in HANZAB suggests that singing is more common earlier in the year.  The calls by the young as the adult approached the nest was as described in HANZAB.

I have concluded this was a record of a Chestnut-rumped Heathwren and that a nest with young (NY) was present.  This is the third breeding record for the species in the COG AOI and the first non-DY breeding record.

Reference

Higgins P. J. and J. M. Peter (Eds) 2002 “Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds, volume 6” 

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[1] Subsequently found to apply to a number of field guides so this one is not singled out and named.